A report based on last year's Pacific salmon dialogues held across B.C. will come out in March 2025.
Researchers provided an update on the project and some key findings to participants in December. The project involves the University of British Columbia and the Pacific Salmon Foundation, and is partially funded by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO).
An online meeting was held to share the broad strokes of the findings of a dozen community meetings held across the province to hear from stakeholders about issues, concerns, and potential avenues for improving conservation and rehabilitation efforts for Pacific salmon.
The group heard from 137 participants across 12 communities.
While the researchers said they had fewer people than hoped at the community meetings, they did hear similar feedback on salmon stocks.
Across the province, they heard there is serious concern over the status of Pacific salmon. They said stakeholders told them the compound effects of hotter, drier summers, combined with higher water levels in the winter should be looked at. Meeting attendees brought up the cumulative impacts of deforestation, due to both wildfire and forestry practices, on salmon spawning and rearing habitat.
They also heard community stewardship projects across the province are facing an aging community of volunteers and a lack of stable funding.
While the researchers said they heard a lot of frustration, they also heard positive feedback on support for conservation and a call for a more integrated watershed management approach.
In the video update, stakeholders had a chance to provide feedback on the findings so far and ask questions of researchers.
"I think we were heard, we felt as a group we were heard," said Bill Lloyd, of the Horsefly River Roundtable, one of the dialogue participants who attended the online update.
The full report will be posted and shared out publicly on the project website once the project is completed, which is expected by March 2025.
